Naomi’s Next Act

When Glamour last sat down with Naomi Watts, she was in Sydney, Australia, taking a break from her 14-hour-a-day work schedule filming 2005’s King Kong in New Zealand. Her biggest romantic prospect was an 800-pound gorilla. What a difference a few years can make: When the 39-year-old actress shows up for her interview at Noho Star, a café she frequents near her New York City loft, she’s sporting a gi-normous diamond and obsessing over breast milk and “poop.” And as for that punishing filming schedule? That’s changed too. “These days, I just don’t have as much will to work,” Watts admits.

Well, who would begrudge her a few months of chill time? After all, Watts had to struggle for everything she has: The youngest child of bohemian parents who split when she was four, she was seven when her father, a sound engineer for Pink Floyd, died. Seven years later, Watts’ mother moved the family from England to Sydney. There, the 14-year-old attended acting classes in school and soon after became close friends with Nicole Kidman on the set of the 1991 movie Flirting. But as Kidman shot to stardom, Watts languished in the role of “best friend,” struggling just to book auditions. Then, finally, at age 32, she had her big moment in the role of a split-personality actress in David Lynch’s critically acclaimed and deeply freaky 2001 thriller Mulholland Drive. After that life-changing part, her career took on supersonic momentum: She was offered a star turn in the 2002 blockbuster The Ring; was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of a recovering drug addict in 2003’s 21 Grams; landed the highly coveted female lead in King Kong; and received considerable praise for her role in last year’s Eastern Promises. This month she appears as a mother who is terrorized in her vacation home in the watch-through-your-fingers-scary Funny Games. What else is going on in Watts’ life? Lots!

GLAMOUR: Your life has changed dramatically in the last three years—you’ve got a new man and a new baby. You met Liev when you were 36. I know tons of single women in their thirties who would love to meet the right guy—I’m one of them! Not that you’re the guru on the mountaintop or anything, but what worked for you?

NAOMI WATTS: My personal belief is that you can’t want it too badly—and I mean that for everything in life. In my early years of auditioning, I wanted [success] so badly, I ended up pushing it away. You can make people feel uncomfortable if you give off an air of desperation. I’ve got female friends who are great catches: They look great and they have successful careers. Men should be rugby-tackling them to the ground! But it can be hard for a woman in her late thirties, because men tend to think she wants a baby right away. At the same time, there are great men out there who are really impressed by a woman who knows what she wants. And that’s what I found.

GLAMOUR: So how did you and Liev actually meet each other?

NAOMI WATTS: Friends had been trying to hook us up for years, but the timing was never right. Then I ran into him at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute gala [in 2005], and we spent the whole night talking and flirting. At some point I thought, This night’s going to end and I might never see him again. So I said, in a cheeky way, “Don’t you want my digits?” I can’t tell you why; in the past, I would never have done that. If I was even remotely interested in a guy, I would ask for his number first. That way, I could find out more about him on my terms. Literally, within seconds after [Liev] left, he texted me his number. I think he liked that I was a bit aggressive.

GLAMOUR: You appeared together on-screen in 2006’s The Painted Veil. Were you concerned about the not-so-great track record many on-screen couples have had? That it would jinx your relationship?

NAOMI WATTS: No, because we were so fresh—at that point, we’d just started dating. We’d love to work together again: We’ve even been talking about doing a play together. Though I’d be terrified to tread the boards with him, because as far as I am concerned, there is no one like Liev on the stage.

GLAMOUR: Have you worked out your film schedules so that you’re able to be together more?

NAOMI WATTS: So far, we’ve been quite lucky: We’re coming up on three years together and we’ve only spent three weeks apart at the most. All throughout the pregnancy, Liev was here doing a play, and once the baby was born, we all went to Lithuania while he filmed [the upcoming film] Defiance.

GLAMOUR: So let’s talk about Funny Games. I saw a DVD of it last night….

NAOMI WATTS: I’m sorry—did you watch it by yourself?

GLAMOUR: I did, and I had no idea what it was about before I popped it into my DVD player. Had I realized how terrifying it would be, I would have asked a friend to come over and watch it with me!

NAOMI WATTS: [Laughs.] Above all, I try to be provocative in my work. When I saw the original [Funny Games is based on a 1997 Austrian film of the same name], I thought, Oh my God, this is tough. But I also felt charged with energy. I could see that the director [Michael Haneke] wanted to say to American audiences, “Look how we glorify violence. We cheer along to disturbing things.”

GLAMOUR: So the last time you were on Glamour’s cover, you said you were still able to enjoy some anonymity. Is that still the case? Because there were a lot of photos of you pregnant out there!

NAOMI WATTS: There was a different one [in the tabloids] every day. And since I’ve had the baby, it has continued: They want the shot of the baby in the stroller. It’s so embarrassing. They block the sidewalk and get in people’s way, and everyone is saying, “Who are they photographing?” Meanwhile, no one recognizes me unless they’re around! Especially when I was pregnant, I really picked on the female paparazzi, because I felt like they should have had more of a conscience about [what they were doing].

GLAMOUR: Do you think they are as aggressive as men?

NAOMI WATTS: Yes. I once chased a [female paparazzo] when I was pregnant. It’s like, “Get away from me; give me your camera!” That doesn’t normally happen because I’m not a confrontational person. But they can really hit your trip switch. You feel so invaded. Yesterday I said to [a female paparazzo], “Go and have your weekend and stop destroying mine.” I want them to feel as humiliated as they make me feel.

GLAMOUR: Why have things gotten so bad with the paparazzi?

NAOMI WATTS: I think it’s gotten worse because of Internet blogs. I don’t know how they manage to get a single shot with someone smiling, because they make you so tense—particularly when you’ve got a baby with you. It makes me not want to go out. But I refuse to be held hostage in my home.

GLAMOUR: Who are some of the actresses of your generation that you admire?

NAOMI WATTS: Obviously Nicole Kidman, who’s a very good friend. I just saw Margot at the Wedding and thought she was brilliant, so complex. I sent her a total fan letter for that role. I also love Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, Laura Dern, Emily Watson and Samantha Morton. She’s fearless.

GLAMOUR: Let’s talk motherhood. What’s it like having a child a bit later?

NAOMI WATTS: Well, for one thing, picking him up off of the ground 20 times is different when you hear your knees cracking! [Laughs.] Having a child later in life is interesting. From an intellectual point of view, you’ve had a lot of time to do research and figure out how you want to raise him. But there is also something to be said about having a child in your early twenties, when you’re just operating on instinct. My mother had my brother and me when she was 19 and 20. Obviously we’re the best things that happened to her, but she had plans and dreams she never got to fulfill. So I don’t have that feeling of, what am I giving up?

GLAMOUR: Would you have done anything differently in terms of your career or your personal life?

NAOMI WATTS: I wish [success] had come earlier, that I hadn’t struggled for so long. But then it would have all been different, and maybe I wouldn’t have taken the path that I did. Maybe I wouldn’t have met Liev. So I believe I’m very fortunate the way things worked out. I do want more children.

GLAMOUR: Anytime soon?

NAOMI WATTS: Well, I’d better—I haven’t got too many years left! I might not get the large brood that I’ve hoped for, but it would be great to give Alexander a sibling.

GLAMOUR: It’s hard not to notice that big diamond ring on your finger: Does that mean you and Liev are engaged?

NAOMI WATTS: [Holds hand up and smiles.] Yes—we have been for a while. But we don’t talk about weddings [to the press]. We’ll see what happens. We’re committed.

GLAMOUR: So where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

NAOMI WATTS: I’d like to have a second child, maybe even a third. Career-wise, I would like to be doing one film a year, playing great character roles. I feel like I’ll always want to continue to work, because I love what I do. I’m not as anxious about everything going away anymore, and even if things do slow down, that’s fine with me. Alexander takes up all my energy—and I love that.

GLAMOUR: You’re turning 40 next year; congratulations. How are you feeling about that?

NAOMI WATTS: I’d better start thinking about it. From what I’ve heard, everyone feels fine in their thirties, even to age 39, and then that day comes, and it’s like, bam! I do get surprised when I catch myself in mirrors: It’s like, God, my face is really that of a 39-year-old’s! But I hope to age gracefully.

GLAMOUR: Meaning, you’d opt out of plastic surgery or Botox?

NAOMI WATTS: Never say never—and I certainly don’t judge anyone who does it. But most of the characters I play are going through some kind of emotional turmoil, so my job requires me to have expression. If my face is frozen, what right do I have to play that part? All the women who haven’t done anything to their faces are still able to play great roles. And some of the ones who have done something have messed it up—they look freakish. Anyway, for me it’s about playing women with rich lives—and the longer the life, the deeper the wrinkles.